This invention relates to double bearing fishing reels in which a spool shaft is rotatably supported between the two side frames of a reel body in such a manner that it is rotated in association with the rotation of a handle, and more particularly to a double bearing fishing reel having a brake mechanism.
In a conventional double bearing fishing reel brake system, as disclosed by Japanese Utility Patent Publication No. 17172/1984, a brake adjusting screw member is simply threadably engaged with a male-threaded protrusion extending from one side wall of the reel body. Therefore, even if the male thread of the male-threaded protrusion and the female thread of the brake adjusting screw member are so made that the latter is difficult to loosen, frequent adjustment of the braking force will wear the threaded parts, as a result of which the brake adjusting screw member becomes liable to loosen. Furthermore, the torque of the spool shaft is applied to the brake adjusting screw member in the thread direction. This will make the brake adjusting screw member more susceptible to loosening. As a result, the braking force applied to the spool shaft is frequently changed, or no braking force may be applied to the spool shaft. Sometimes, the brake adjusting screw member comes off, and is lost.
Further, when a reel of the above type is mounted on a fishing rod and the fishing line is let out or is wound on the reel, the reel is liable to swing right and left about the fishing rod, because the shaft of the reel is held horizontally. Therefore, the operation of letting the fishing line in and out is, in general, carried out by holding one side of the reel body with the hand which is opposite to the side of the reel body where the reel handle is positioned.
A double bearing reel has been known in the art which is so designed that a plate for placing a finger thereon is provided in the upper portion of the reel body above the spool to allow a person to hold the reel body with ease.
However, such a double bearing reel suffers from the following difficulties. The finger placing plate has a flat upper surface or it is made of hard material such as metal. Therefore, when a force is applied to the finger placing plate with the fisherman's thumb on it, the thumb may slip off or feel pain, or it will soon get fatigued.
For the purpose of eliminating the latter difficulties, a double bearing reel has been proposed in which a recess for receiving the thumb is formed in the upper surface of a finger placing plate (cf. Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 55368/1985 (the term "OPI" as used herein means an "unexamined published application")).
The above double bearing reel is advantageous in that, when the reel is held by hand, the end portion of the thumb is fitted in the recess, and therefore slipping of the thumb from the plate is prevented, and the reel can be securely held by hand. However, it is still disadvantageous for the following reasons. As described above, the end of the thumb is fitted in the recess when the reel is held by hand. Therefore, a reel holding force is applied to the end of the thumb fitted on the finger placing plate which is made of a hard material. Therefore, when the reel is held by hand for a long period of time, the thumb feels a pain or it is liable to get fatigued.